Several drugs targeting IL‐1β signaling have been repurposed for clinical treatment of COVID‐19, including the IL‐1β antagonist, canakinumab (Novartis, developed for suppression of inflammation in patients with disorders of autoimmune origin), and the IL‐1 receptor antagonist anakinra (Kineret, approved for the treatment of RA in 2001).145, 146, 147, 148. This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and rheumatoid arthritis.